WESTERN PRODUCER — Retirement of experienced mechanics coupled with a lack of young new recruits has thrown a monkey wrench into the empty service bays at many North American farm implement dealers.
Technicians in the agriculture implement industry are becoming like the proverbial hen’s teeth. There’s a need for trained young technicians that is not being filled.
CaseIH is meeting the crisis head-on by creating what they call the Teenage Top Tech program. This training partnership includes CNH Industrial, their North American dealer network and leading technical colleges. Teenage Top Tech helps provide diesel and ag tech students with the opportunity to work on the latest agricultural and construction equipment.
The idea is to identify and foster development of the next generation of technicians, said Peter Steiner, manager of the Top Tech program in a recent phone interview.
“We simply do not have enough young people to fill all the vacant shop stalls. We used to rely on farm kids to form the next group of technicians, but there are fewer and fewer farm kids every year,” said Steiner, adding that today’s ag implements are more reliable than machines from even 10 years ago but they are not maintenance-free.
“They’re a lot more complex and technologically advanced. A higher level of training and understanding is required today. For a young person looking for challenges, this is a good profession. With GPS, precision ag, a plethora of sensors, automated controls, mapping and the circuits to make these systems work together, it’s complicated.
“We still have hydraulics, airflow, shafts and belts, gears, augers and everything else. But now it’s all controlled by computers. A lot of people tend to blame the black boxes for everything that goes wrong, but in actual fact, most of the workorder are written up for simple mechanical problems. Or it’s merely a programming error that’s easily solved.”
Steiner says the Case dealer network offers young recruits a competitive benefits and wage package to attract the best candidates. They offer time off, retirement programs and other benefits found in related industries.
The Teenage Top Tech training program is in the process of marrying Case dealerships to top tech colleges in each of the provinces. It lets the schools become accustomed to the technology used on Case machines, therefore also letting students work with those machines.
“Basically, we dovetail with the curriculums the tech schools already use. We just add to their courses. We kicked this off about a year ago, and, so far, the schools say it’s been a big benefit. We’ll continue to modify the program as out technology moves forward.”
